The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku
by RinRinRin
Summary: When the 'World's No. 1 Virtual Diva' goes missing, Yamaha Corporations is going beserk putting everything on lockdown. Mysterious audio clips appear and the dissappear from the database without a trace. Their existence denied. Who can be trusted?
1. Chapter 1: Before Everything Ends

**The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku**

**Chapter 1: Before Everything Ends**

"Onee-chan, you're sop off key, have you even practiced the new number at all?" Complaining as she collapsed onto her own bed of pale yellow sheets with black outlines of flowers and lace in an elaborate pattern, Rin sighed in exasperation as he song sheets scattered the spread. Rin blew a clump of pinned bangs out of her line of sight as her peripheral picked up on Len's form as he settled beside her.

"It was only uploaded yesterday, what's the big rush? We have plenty of time to master it before release." Exhaustion was evitable in his agitated tone as he spread out on the bed beside her, letting his legs dangle off the edge. "It's because Miku passed us on the charts again isn't it?" He yawned indifferently. "It's only to be expected, she's the 'World's No. 1 Virtual Diva' nothing gonna change that."

With a huff, Rin rolled over to turn her back to him, pulling a stray pillow into her grasp, clutching it in an effort of self-comfort.

"The sooner you come to terms with it, Rin, the easier it will be." Len sat up and moved to put her head in his lap, petting her hair soothingly, his expression softening with concern for his sister. "Why do you hate her so much anyway?"

"She's just so perfect, all of the time! Always number one, center stage, the main event, all the best songs, figure head of VOCALOID… The pride and joy of the master and producers! It makes me sick!" Gagging for effect she looked up at him and continued to rant. "If I hear one more this about the 'World's No. 1 Virtual Diva', I may vomit. She _always_ gets the most stage time during concerts too, her and Luka… We only got two songs last time!"

"She's so fake with that grin and the goody-goody act... Oh, and if they pair you with her again for another song, I swear…" Sitting up Rin became even more furious shaking her head in annoyance. "AGH! The freaking biggest concert is even _called_ MikuFest!"

"You realize those song sets mean nothing, right?" Len responded defensively, peaking Rin's interest, prompting her to retort back. "Says the one who gets upset when I do a song with or so much as flirt with Kaito."

"But, that's-"

"No, it's not. Does Spice mean nothing to you, 'Mr. Player-Who-Really-Just-Wants-His-Sister'?" Turning to crawl into his lap, laying her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his frame, she looked up at him with a pout.

"Gomenasai, Onii-chan." Len replied half sarcasm, half sincerely as he pulled her close, kissing her forehead before continuing to pet her hair as she nuzzled his neck. "But there's nothing to be done, we can't compete with that."

"I guess you're right…" Rin answered quietly, muffled by his embrace.

From their quarters of the ward, the Kagamine twins emerged to enter the common room to find Kaito, Meito and Mikuo sitting about casually. The room was a pristine white accented with bits of teal, blue, red, yellow, purple, pink and gray in miniscule detail such as the yellow polka dotted curtains or the red lamp base. The microfoam sofas were cubes scattered in multicolored pillows.

"What's up, Kagamines?" Meito greeted them from his lounging position over an otherwise empty loveseat. A bottle of sake dangled between two fingers from the edge of the sofa.

"Not much." Len answered coolly as he sat into a recliner folding his arms behind his head as Rin joined him to lean against the armrest. Finishing for him she questioned. "You?"

"Not much." The reply came in union with scattered contented sighs; it truly was a lazy Sunday. From there, conversation floated lazily between them all. Hardly interested, Rin only half listened until a statement came from Meiko sparked her interest, as she entered the conversation.

"Did you here?" Meiko asked no one in particular as she meandered to stand behind Kaito's seat, popping the cork of her bottle, pausing to watch it fall into Kaito's tub of ice cream as she leaned over the top of his chair. "Miku's the new face of Toyota. They've taken her on as their spokesperson."

Wrapping her arms around her latest boyfriend's neck and leaning forward to kiss behind his ear before standing up to take a swig and notice a jealous Meito grimace. An oblivious Kaito smiled up at her, running cold fingers up her bare arms in endearment. She shuddered, Meito stirred in annoyance.

"Where is he anyway?" Mikuo questioned curiously as he kicked his feet up on the ivory wooded coffee table. "I haven't seen her since breakfast…"

"Luka mentioned her going out to meet with the new sponsors, more than likely meaning Toyota." Kaito piped up for a moment before redirecting his gaze and regards to Meiko.

"That means more funding. How great is that?" Mikuo added with an enthusiastic smile the same way Miku always seemed to making Rin scowl. It was only moments like these and when he'd give that clueless expression that she was reminded that he really was nothing but a gender-bended version of her _high-diva-ness_. Rin really hated that word. _Diva_. Blech.

As they exited the Studio, Rin pulled her earpieces down to let them hang around her neck as they made their way back to the ward, tired from the vigorous dance routine in preparation of their latest piece. Running a hand through his hair, Len made a small retort to himself and shook his head but Rin was hardly interested, her mind set somewhere else.

Something was off. She wasn't quite sure what but she could sense it… A certain heaviness as she entered the ward.

"Miku isn't back yet." Luka observed in the distracted, sort of far off way she always seemed to, lapping at a pink Popsicle as Kaito worked away at yet another tub of pistachio. Mikuo paced growing more and more bothered by how late she was.

"I could-" Rin had started agitatedly but was cut off by Len. "That's peculiar; it's getting late too, isn't it?"

"Do conferences like that normally last this late?" Mikuo asked curiously.

Pausing before adding with certain disbelief, Luka's grey eyes became clouded. "No. No, they do not."

The rest of the day passed by quietly, no word of Miku, absolutely nothing. And as refreshing as it was for her not to be the hot topic, Rin like the others was actually growing nervous. After more idle chat, Len and Rin found themselves retiring to their quarters earlier than usual, exhausted from their practice.

As Len opened the door, in the dark of the cluttered room, in the luminescence of his laptop, a pop up was visible on the bright screen. Furrowing his brow at this Len couldn't recall leaving his computer on, let alone running updates. Regardless of the eeriness, Rin flicked on light and followed him in.

"A new update this late…?" They both questioned in union, piling onto Len's bed curiously as he took the sunshine yellow laptop into his lap, shifting his mouse to confirm the action letting the new audio file download onto his drive. Loading it up, the audio player opened and faintly it began.

White noise screeched from Len's laptop making the two wince at the sound but before he could make to bring up the volume control, the distorted, scratchy, almost unrecognizable iconic sound filtered through with desperation.

"It-It-It-t-t-t-t waaas a…" It was inaudible due to the noise except for the last two hurried sentences. "They have it! …Before it's too late!" And it was cut off. Nothing more, nothing less.

Moments of an unsure silence dragged by before Len stirred only to click replay, the audio only feeding with even worse quality, then finally, not at all. The feed had been corrupted as well as the file and his hard drive demanded it be deleted. Without being able to stop it, it was as soon gone as it was there. As if it had never existed.


	2. Chapter 2: Transmit

**This goes out to my whooping two fans! Whoot! You guys rock. Everyone else sucks unless they're reading this. :P**

The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku  
>Chapter 2: Transmit<br>7/27/11

"Who's going to believe us? Don't you think it would sound just a _little_ convenient? She's been gone for hardly a day. It's probably just a glitch in the system, the remnants of a trashed recording." Proclaimed Rin as she stood up from his bed, pacing as she analyzed the situation doing everything that her mind would allow to try and dismiss the thought. It was so sketchy. It could have even been just a prank judging by how quickly it was eliminated from the system… Unless it really was a desperate cry for help.

No. It simply couldn't be. That was not even plausible. Silly. Childish.

"Onii-chan, if its Miku then its so crucial that we report this right away! Whoever's abducted her can even hack the system and eliminate any evidence. Do you know what this means?" Len countered, agitation evitable in his tone. Even if it was a hoax, it was better to be safe about it rather than regret it later. "What else could they have access to, Rin? And who's next? Meiko? Kaito? Neru? Us?"

"Its ridiculous. A total fluke! I'm telling you, Len, you're overreacting!"

"Rin!" Desperately he persisted. A tinge of jealousy stung in Rin's gut with the thought that he was so worried for Miku's safety… But it was also for everyone else, including her. She let it go resentfully for that reason.

"Okay… Alright… Let's just wait a bit. Maybe get some rest first," Rin suggested as she sat onto her own bed across from him, pulling off her shoes and tossing them aside along with her leg warmers and sleaves. "sleep on it and all of that. Just to be sure. I think we're just overtired."

"Alright…" Giving an exhausted sigh, doing about the same finding himself more and more comfortable surrounded by his comforter, submitting to her reasoning. "Just promise me, if she's not back tommarow… Let's be serious about this, okay?"

"G'night, Len." She answered dismissively, tucking herself beneath the covers.

"Night."

Still there was no sign of the "World's No. 1 Virtual Diva", word even had it the creators, the authors… even the masters had any idea where she was. Everything in the ward had sunk, they had been put on lockdown until Miku was located. Even all recording sessions had been cancelled. It was total lockdown.

The Ward's inmates spread about the commons, sitting in small groups talking quietly amongst each other. It was almost a time of mourning for those close to Miku. The low tones were solemn and hung with heavy grief or looming curiosity as rumor spread, some outrageous, some more believable.

It was a day since the discovery of the audio file had become the latest news, the third day since her disappearance.

In their own little dispersion of a group, Len and Rin occupied a corner sharing a soft white armchair. His laptop placed his lap while she leaned closer to watch as he skimmed the system before trying to salvage the file from the depths of the hard drive. Not even in the recesses of his computer's crash and dump files could it be recovered. It was almost as if it was never even there at all.

"This is terrible… We're on high alert and they haven't even really explained to the others why. No one knows what's going on past the fact that the idol is missing and she's been abducted. Oh, and that our safety is threatened." Len muttered half to Rin, half to himself, annoyed with the whole situation altogether.

"Ignorance is bliss, is it not, nee-chan?" Answered Rin plainly, her eyes drifting to Kaiko who was a perfect specimen where she absentmindedly lapped at a frozen blueberry cream pop.

"So it seems." Replied Len rather downcast, regretfully, they could not enjoy that sort of peace because they managed to get smack dab in the middle of it just like they always seemed to.

Sighing in response, Rin folded her legs against her chest, resting her hands on her knees. Despite her dislike towards Miku, even a certain part of Rin worried for her. Though it was easily disguised as a worry for her and her brother's own security, it was still there. It was overwhelming to contemplate where Miku could have ended up. The possibilities were endless.

That was perhaps what scared Crypton and Yamaha the most, enough to quarantine their remaining possessions. As for what could be done with Miku in the wrong hands… Rin could only imagine the thoughts spiraling through the makers' heads.

Hooking his headphones into the laptop, Len searched diligently through the query scanning every song Miku had ever recorded. Filtering through full blown hits and broken or unfinished pieces as sweat beaded his forehead, he was hardly making progress. Morale was low but her forged on, leaning forward in his rolly-chair across from the desk at the end of his bed.

Jolting a little in his seat as Rin opened the door appearing behind him, entering with two mugs of steaming hot cocoa with mini marshmallows floating on the surface of the creamy brew. Setting the cup carefully onto his desk, she smiled sympathetically. He had been at it all night. No progress. "Another cup of hot cocoa. Steaming hot."

As his eyes met hers, he mirrored a similar expression but still confident as strained as it was. His azure eyes clouded with bother.

"She'll turn up." Rin assured him reluctantly, her fingers drifting over his bare arm reassuringly.

"If there was one, there will be another. I'm sure of it."


	3. Chapter 3: Proof of Life

**For those who were awaiting it impatiently. Lol Here it is. I love my few existent fans! :DD**

**The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku  
>Chapter 3: Proof of Life<br>7/27/11**

Eyes that had long adjusted to the dark of her surroundings peered through tight laces of metal, they glowed a bright electric turquoise that was far from human where she knelt in silence. _They _didn't know she had awoken yet.

As difficult as it was to remain calm, she had managed to assess the situation to assume that she was being held captive, sitting in a dog crate in a dark place. Through the pitch dark, Miku could manage to make out the shapes of crates, wooden ones. They surrounded her cage, concealing it from sight.

The only bit of light, which she could hardly make out over the tall silhouette of the boxes and unidentifiable studio equipment, was a small crack of light from a far off doorway. Though hardly visible from her ground point, it was the only thing that gave her hope. And for that, she held it close. A sign that everything would be alright.

_Could they have received it?_ The chance was so low… Why would someone be accessing the database that late at night? Maybe someone left their computer on. Optimism was her only ally.

Untangling a strand of long hair from a metal thatch, she tapped a button on the side of her headphones, narrowly missing a crack in the side, very well remembering where that came from. This chance was a great risk for her as well, there was no telling what _they_ would do if they found out. Submitting to that fate, she whispered softly into the headset.

Logging onto her Mac desktop of a corresponding cherry red, Meiko sifted nostalgically through a mass of old pictures saved to her hard drive. Profile and glamour shots, goofy pictures of her and Meito, her pinning Kaito suggestively against a wall, Luka and Miku in the kiddy pool with Rin that they had blown up over the summer… Meiko paused to examine the clueless smiles of the three in skimpy bathing suits laying all over each other before spotting Gakupo peaking around the corner in the background.

Smirking, Meiko flipped to the next one before a pop-up window appeared with a great _blong!_ from her headphones.

"AHHH!" After clicking it off, not bothering to read what it said, turning to glance at Meito as he rolled over in his bed. She didn't remember the volume being up that loud… Before she turned back to the screen, a sound box had appeared and began to play a distorted white noise making Meiko wince before a small, distorted voice screeched as it whispered a few audible words that made Meiko's skin crawl.

"_W-Waaaaaarrehouse-se 10-A4… Address… 30109… In…. Uhnnn… NGH."_

Feeling faint, a icy zap of electricity ran up her spine, wracking her frame, her jaw sparked. The recording was cut off with a pained whine as skin burnt back at the corner of her mouth, revealing a metallic coating beneath, the hair and skin surrounding her right headphone singed as well.

Yanking off her headphones, Miku dropped them on the plastic floor of her crate, grasping her chest in an attempt at nulling the pain her damaged voice box had endured. She was malfunctioning. No matter how much time she spent idle, recharging or trying to reboot. It was hopeless. If she didn't get out of here soon, she might shut down. Tears welled in the Diva's eyes as they fell to her headphones where they lay; half of the plastic magenta shell broken away, revealed wires, and the cords torn.

It would only be so long until she had no connection with the outside at all…


	4. Chapter 4: Liberate

**Yet another! So glad I have time to type these with the way my computer's been acting up, blue screening and all. To those still reading this, you people are the best and deserve a cookie.  
>Go have a cookie. Now. xD<strong>

**The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku  
>Chapter 4: Liberate<br>7/27/11**

"I tried to tell them! It was Sony! I'm telling you, they are our leading competitors as of recent… I heard they're even working on their own voice synthesizers." Animatedly, Meiko explained with agitation slamming her bottle of vodka down on the table as she leaned over it. "I heard _her_. There's no disguising a voice like that. It was a message from Miku. No mistaking it."

"Are you sure… I mean-" Kaito was cut off as he tried to defend the masters' reasoning.

"You see! No one believes me! I thought you said you trusted me?" At this point, Meiko was furious. She swung around face him from where she had been pacing angrily, hurt reflected in her hazel eyes. "What do I have to gain by making shit like this up?"

"You could have beer- uh, I mean been…" He trailed off.

"I was not dreaming. I was not drunk. I was _perfectly_ sober." Spat Meiko scathingly. "As much as they would like to pin everything on my being an alcoholic, that doesn't always apply."

Surveying the deer-on-headlights expression, Kaito had adorned, she calmed herself down and continued a bit more reserved. "Besides, they're our competitors. We have practically a monopoly on musical instruments, synth systems, etc. And the over all, success of the VOCALOID project.

"True… but-" Kaito persisted but it was once again in vain. Wincing as she spoke over him again.

"There is not but, don't you understand?" Continued Len as he pieced it all together. "We've got to do something, Rin!"

"But what can we possibly do about it, Len! We're on freaking lockdown!" Countered Rin facing her brother, flustered as he lectured her. Next time he complained of her rash behavior, this was definitely a lovely an example of Len's hypocritical tendencies. There really was nothing that could be done. But perhaps it was that poisonous seed of jealousy that really had Rin. But what sickened her more than that was how the masters' turned Meiko's story away, including confiscating her desktop as well.

It was no good, and they'd end up losing privileges too if they persisted.

"Well, we've got to do _something_. I can't just sit here and watch this unfold…" Muttered Len.

"Fine, if you can think of some super awesome plan." Answered Rin sarcastically.

"I can't believe we're doing this. I feel like I'm in a shitty sitcom or a bad action movie." Rin whined to herself as she snuck through the halls, following closely behind her brother. It was well past midnight and well past the new 6 'o clock curfew the masters' had put up for everyone's "safety". Much rather more control it seemed. An attempt they would make until they could get their shit together or so Rin thought.

"We've followed through worse, senseless, _foolish_ ideas or _yours_ might I add. Is it not my turn yet?" Len smirked as he led her through the ward to their destination, Meiko's room.

"How are my ideas-" Rin was cut off when he shot her a look that instantly silenced her complaints. Yeah, most of them were pretty stupid. "Fine."

"Like you have a choice, I love it." Snorted Len as they snuck into Meiko's room, it was just like her to leave the door unlocked. Dropping to his knees, he checked under Meiko's bed to grab a crudely tied bunch of ropes, leaning back to untangle them with a pang of sympathy for Kaito. Poor sap. Joining him on the ground, Rin helped him undo the rest. They remained completely silent in order not to wake Meiko's double. Wrapping the ropes around the foot of Meiko's bed, Len knotted it up tightly while Rin opened up the window before tossing it out over the side, letting the ropes trail down the side of the building from the second story, just about the common room.

"Alright, let's do this." They murmured in union. Climbing out of the window, Rin slid her way down but losing grip she fell the last five feet landing on the ground with a thud, her brother following close behind her, tripping to land on her chest knocking the breath out of her. Rin let out a pained whine. Maybe this is why Len hated her plans so much, he was always the one who got hurt or died… _Ugh, so it's my turn?_ Rin thought in annoyance as she shoved him off.

"Sorry." Len extended his hand to help her, Rin grasped it and pulled herself up to kick him in the shin. He just laughed.

"Jerk." Rin answered with a cough, shoving him weakly.

"Oh, quit it. You're fine."

"Whatever."

With neatly cut, green summer grass kicking up behind them, the Kagamine duo ran across endless fields and gardens, paved walkways, shrubbery and statues that stood between the ward and the edge of the grounds. Soon, out of breath and ragged, they reached the edge of a sun bleached highway through the parted line of sakura trees. Exhaustedly, Len leaned against a tree clutching his stomach. Rin was hunched over with her hands on her knees.

"You realize… That was the prettier equivalent of a Lord of the Rings film, right?" Muttered Rin practically delirious, bringing herself to stand up straight again, still panting.

"You realize that was a mile and a half and there are several more into town?" Countered Len with a smirk.

"We could hitchhike."

"We could get axed to death and end up in someone's basement as stuffed collector's items."

"Or lamps."

"I really hate you right now."

"I'm sure you do." Len laughed at his steaming sister. This would be fun.


End file.
